I just had my shower and tub surround tiled with Gold Green honed Quartzite tile. Our GC said it's great for a bathroom as long as you keep it sealed. I am not sure why the tile you looked at has jagged edges, I didn't notice any on ours. I don't think you can beat quartzite for the way it reflects and refracts light, it's gorgeous.

I personally would not want any porous stone anywhere near a shower. Your soaps and shampoos can stain it if you don't keep it sealed, and some cleaning products will etch it. Not to mention if that some of your shed skin cells can find their way into some of the pores if you don't keep it properly sealed. Shed skin cells and soap residue are food for mold in a damp environment.

I thought quartzite was a pretty hard stone, i.e., not as porous as a marble--is this correct? We do not use any modern cleaning products and our personal products are all botanical, so I am not worried about damaging/staining the stone, but I do wonder if water will etch the stone's surface over time. And how frequently does quartzite need to be sealed?

Also, I would LOVE to see pics of your shower/tub, lynneblack.

I'll post some in a few days, the plumber should be done tomorrow.

Here's a couple of pictures, it's hard to get one good picture of the tub and the shower, so I took two. The tub used to sit in the middle of our bedroom, our GC put the new tub in the same place, but built a wall to separate it from the bedroom. The tile is gold green quartzite 16x16 with tumbled quartzite trim. All exposed tile edges are polished. The tile still needs to be sealed, the tub needs caulking, and there's going to be a little paint touch up & the frameless shower door needs to be installed, but we are almost there =)

I just remodeled a bathroom in my lake home and wanted a natural look. I love quartzite, but didn't want any maintenance issues being that it is a second home. I found a porcelain tile called "Quartz Gold" by Coem Ceramiche, an Italian company. They sell it at Best Tile in my area (Albany, NY). Nothing looks like the real thing, but this is very close and it is indestructible. I mixed in other natural elements like river rock on the shower floor and a slate/glass border around the window in the shower.

Hi Lynne... Found the old thread on a google search. I'm wondering if you went this route with your shower and if so if you've had any issues in the past few years? We have some leftover quartzite from our kitchen and are considering using it on a shower bench we are building. We had some issues initially with even water because the kitchen counters were improperly sealed... but now that we have learned that lesson I am hopeful that they can be sealed properly and utilized in a shower. Thanks!